fermantation: if you live near Sinchon, I can tell you where a bunch of gyms are with power/squat racks.

Yeah sure. Unless they're as cheap as the gym I'm going to, I probably won't join but I'd like some references either way. Maybe I'll check them out or just drop in for more serious workout sessions.

Captain Corea wrote:

So, fairly often in the gym someone mentioned this guy, Sean Lee, to me. Never really thought much about him, but the other day I stumbled across an article on him. One part made me a little curious..

Quote:

Confident and motivated after the military service, Lee decided to try out for Musclemania bodybuilding contest in Canada upon going back to the country to finish college in 2004.

“The eight-week hardcore preparing process was really tough. Following a strict meal plan was particularly hard because I was interning at a hotel at the time,” he said. He majored in hotel management in college.

The hard work paid off. Lee became the first-ever Korean winner of the contest.

Ahh, I've been meaning to hit Makati. The expats I ran into over there said "it's like you aren't even in the Phillipines", I guess meaning there aren't random goats wanding the streets and people pooping on the sidewalk.

Probably better than the hotel gym I saw in China last year; a flimsy stationary bike from the 1920s, didn't even function, just propped up in the corner gathering dust so they could say on the website they had a gym. Totally hilarious.

I'm finally getting back to my old self. Did barbell shoulder shrugs with 5 plates on each end yesterday, double what I could do two weeks ago. I wonder if the BCAA I started taking pre-workout (in addition to my other supplements) may have something to do with it.

I used my leather straps, though. My forearms aren't strong enough yet to grip that much weight without, even with a one hand over/one hand under grip.

So you bring up something I'm kind of wondering about. You heavy lifters out there, what's your opinion on using assistance equipment? Chalk? Straps? Gloves? Belts? Shoes? suits? What do you particularly use and what's your limit?

I've been trying to go raw as possible. I use chalk (even though my gym doesn't allow it, nobody has said anything to me..yet), and I wear flat-soled shoes. Honestly, I would lift in bare feet if I wasn't in a public gym. However, I feel like I kind of peaked on my squat now, so I'm considering getting a belt for my working sets. The other quirky piece of equipment I have is I wanted a weight set smaller than 2x2.5lbs, so I made my own 2x1.25lb set out of chain link and spring clips.

Here's a repost from a different thread in case it is of any interest:

Peter Attia: An athlete who like a lot of Americans was working out like crazy, carbo loading, getting improved performance, yet getting fat! Converted himself to burning fat instead of carbs to great effect. I've been seeing the same results in the gym, although this guy gets a bit carried away with sampling his own blood and doing crazy self-experiments.

I used my leather straps, though. My forearms aren't strong enough yet to grip that much weight without, even with a one hand over/one hand under grip.

So you bring up something I'm kind of wondering about. You heavy lifters out there, what's your opinion on using assistance equipment? Chalk? Straps? Gloves? Belts? Shoes? suits? What do you particularly use and what's your limit?

Whatever you feel helps you lift heavier.

I haven't used chalk in 20 years. Too messy.

Whenever I buy gloves, I end up ditching them after a few months. Now I've got a pair of gloves with wrist support, which I tighten for certain exercises. It's nice having that feature...but I think I'm gonna start leaving them at home. Sure, I don't get calluses with gloves, but I always come to the same conclusion: they make it harder to grip the larger bars and I don't have as much of a feel for how the weight moves as I'm doing my reps, which I think negatively affects how heavy I can lift.